Bakery products containing fructo-oligosaccharide

ABSTRACT

Bakery products such as bread obtained by adding the functions of fructo-oligosaccharide so as not to impair tastes and eating feeling. By eating such bakery products, the functions of fructo-oligosaccharide reveal. A bakery product such as croissant and panettone containing fructo-oligosaccharide is obtained by fermenting a mixture of fructo-oligosaccharide and flour as a major ingredient with a madre containing  Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco  and  Lactobacillus comoensis,  and baking the dough thus obtained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to bakery products containingfructo-oligosaccharide, a method for manufacturing the same and doughfor such bakery products.

[0002] Generally, for bread, flour and water are used as main materials.Dough is prepared by mixing bakers' yeast with flour and water andfermenting the mixture. Bread is made by baking the dough. Inclassification, bakers' yeast belongs to Saccharomyces crevisiae.

[0003] Since the approval system for specific health foods started,various food materials and foods have been studied to give them healthyfunction.

[0004] For example, in order to improve a daily life habit such ashabitual constipation, as functional food having excretion-improvingfunctions, use of less digestive oligosaccharides is effective. As oneof them, fructo-oligosaccharide is known.

[0005] Fructo-oligosaccharide is galactosylsucrose[4G-β-D-galactosylsucrose,O-β-D-galactopyanosyl-(1→4)-O-α-D-glucopyanosyl-(1←2)-β-D-fructofuranoside],which is obtained by reacting β-fructofuranosidase with lactose andsucrose.

[0006] Such fructo-oligosaccharide is also called lactoscrose (LS). Itreaches the colon at the bottom of the digestive tract without beingscarcely hydrolyzed by human digestive enzymes, and increases Bacillusbifidus in the intestines.

[0007] If the microflora in the human intestines is improved by takingfructo-oligosaccharide, organic acids in solid wastes increase, anddecomposed products such as ammonia and sulfates decrease.

[0008] But if fructo-oligosaccharide is blended into dough in the samemanner as sweeteners ordinarily used for bread, which is a principalfood of humans, ferment bacilli will assimilate it during the doughfermenting step, so that fructo-oligosaccharide would not remain in thefermented dough by a sufficient amount.

[0009] Saccharides blended into bread dough are subjected todecomposition action by invertase in bakers' yeast, and assimilated asan energy source of the yeast bacilli. Thus, it was difficult to givebread the functions of fructo-oligosaccharide by blending it into bread.

[0010] For such material as bread dough in which an eating sensationthat is porous but viscous is obtained by finely adjusting the degree ofproliferation of ferment bacilli, it is impossible to uniformly mixsweeteners or other additives in dough that has been fermented, withoutimpairing the eating sensation. This is because if additives are mixedunevenly in bread dough, the adjusted dough structure might be damaged.

[0011] An object of this invention is to add fructo-oligosaccharide tobakery products such as bread so as not to impair tastes and eatingsensations so that the health-improving functions offructo-oligosaccharide will be sufficiently revealed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] According to this invention, there is provided a bakery productcontaining fructo-oligosaccharide wherein a mixture offructo-oligosaccharide and flour as a major ingredient is fermented witha madre containing Saccharomyces exiguous, Lactobacillus sanfranciscoand Lactobacillus comoensis, and the dough thus obtained is baked.

[0013] For such a bakery product, the invertase activity is moderatewhile the madre containing Saccharomyces exiguous, Lactobacillussanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis performs the fermenting action,so that during the dough manufacturing step, it will not positivelyassimilate fructo-oligosaccharide.

[0014] The inventors conducted the following studies about theassimilation of fructo-oligosaccharide in microbial consortia containingthis new kind of bacillus.

[0015] Since if lactobacilli alone is used, neither Lactobacilluscomoensis nor Lactobacillus sanfrancisco assimilate lactose or sucrose,it is considered that neither decomposition nor assimilation offructo-oligosaccharide will occur. Also, as for yeast, it is consideredthat Saccharomyces exiguus is slow in the consumption of sugar comparedwith saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is an ordinary bakers' yeast, andthus slow to decompose fructo-oligosaccharide. Further, the primaryreason is considered to be that because during mix-cultivation of yeastand lactobacilli, the activity of the yeast is suppressed by the acid oflactobacilli, if there exists sugar, which preferentially assimilate,does not assimilate so much fructo-oligosaccharide which is low in thepriority order of assimilation.

[0016] With the bakery product using the above madre, it is possible tomake the fructo-oligosaccharide added during mixing of materials remain(by e.g. 50% or over). Thus, the bakery product improves daily lifehabits such as habitual constipation by promoting proliferation ofBacillus bifidus in the intestines of a person who eats it, andpromoting excretion.

[0017] As bakery products in which fructo-oligosaccharide remains,croissant, panettone (also called Italian cake), and cookies can becited as representative examples.

[0018] Also, in order to solve the same problems as above, according tothe present invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturinga bakery product containing fructo-oligosaccharide, comprising the stepsof mixing flour, water and madre containing Saccharomyces exiguus,Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis, preparing doughby fermenting the mixture, and baking this dough.

[0019] In the method of manufacturing the bakery product of thisinvention, a large part of the fructo-oligosaccharide added during themanufacturing steps remains in the dough. Thus, by baking the dough, itis possible to manufacture a bakery product having the functions offructo-oligosaccharide.

[0020] Also, in order to solve the problems described above, accordingto this invention, there is provided a dough for bakery productscontaining fructo-oligosaccharide wherein a mixture offructo-oligosaccharide and flour as a major ingredient is fermented witha madre containing Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco andLactobacillus comoensis.

[0021] With such a dough for bakery products of this invention, becausethe invertase activity is moderate while the madre carries out thefermenting action, most part of the added fructo-oligosaccharideremains. Thus, the dough using the above madre reveals thehealth-improving functions of the fructo-oligosaccharide.

[0022] Other features and objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description made with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023]FIG. 1A is a chromatogram of Comparative Example 1;

[0024]FIG. 1B is a chromatogram of Example 2;

[0025]FIG. 2 is a graph showing the fructo-oligosaccharide retainingrate in Example 2;

[0026]FIG. 3A is a graph showing the relation between the taking periodof croissant containing fructo-oligosaccharide and the number ofBacillus bifidus; and

[0027]FIG. 3B is a graph showing the relation between the taking periodof croissant containing fructo-oligosaccharide and the occupying rate ofBacillus bifidus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0028] According to the present application, fructo-oligosaccharide isadded to flour as a main ingredient and a predetermined madre is addedto the mixture to ferment it, and the dough obtained is baked to obtainbakery products.

[0029] The fructo-oligosaccharide used in this invention is, asdescribed above, galactosylsucrose[4G-β-D-galactosylsucrose,O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-α-Dglucopyranosyl-(1←2)-β-D-fructofuranoside],which is obtained by reacting β-fructofuranosidase with lactose andsucrose. As fructo-oligosaccharide, a commercially available one may beused. For example, LS-55P, LS-55L made by Ensuiko Sugar RefiningCo.,LTD. (ones containing fructo-oligosaccharide by 55% or over in thesolid portion) may be used.

[0030] The mixture used in this invention is a mixture of raw materialsordinarily used to prepare a dough for bakery products. In many cases,besides flour, water, saccharide (sugar, glucose, liquid sugar, etc.),salt, fat, egg, etc. are mixed. Further, a supplement such as vitaminsmay be added as needed.

[0031] Among the predetermined madre, Saccharomyces exiguus,Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis are fermentbacilli contained in madre for a well-known Italian cake called“panettone”. They are contained in ferment bacilli for bread eaten inthe region around Lake Como located at the foot of the European Alps.

[0032] Any of these three kinds of ferment bacilli are available as amadre for “panettone”. A method of manufacturing a madre for Italiancakes using such ferment bacilli is disclosed in Japanese patentpublication No. 2-18811.

[0033] As described in this publication, for Lactobacillus comoensis,one deposited at National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technologyas Recept No. 9022 may be used. Saccharomyces exiguus and Lactobacillussanfrancisco are available from R. TETTAMANTI&FIGLI R.T.F.S.p.A., whichis an Italian company.

[0034] Mixing of materials which are flour and a madre containing suchpredetermined ferment bacilli, preparation of dough by fermenting themixture, and baking can be carried out in exactly the same manner aswhen manufacturing ordinary bread such as panettone and croissant.

[0035] For example, in order to manufacture panettone by sponge doughmethod, after Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco andLactobacillus comoensis have been inoculated into a culture ground whichcontains flour and water as essential components and mixed, to part ofthe cultured product obtained by culturing, flour and water are added,mixed and fermented. The steps of adding flour and water as essentialingredients to part of the fermented product, and mixing and kneadingare repeated 5 to 10 times to obtain a madre.

[0036] To the madre, flour and water are added as essential ingredients,mixed, kneaded and fermented. To the entire mixture, flour and water areadded as essential ingredients, mixed, kneaded and fermented to obtain aproliferated madre by proliferation of a madre.

[0037] Further, to the proliferated madre, flour, fat, saccharides andwater are mixed, kneaded and fermented to obtain sponge dough.

[0038] After carrying out the main kneading in which flour, fat,saccharides, salt and water are mixed to the sponge dough, the mixtureis divided, let to stand or refrigerated. Thereafter it is formed intodesired shapes and then baked to obtain panettone. The step of obtaininga madre, the step of obtaining proliferated madre, the step of obtainingthe sponge dough, main mixing, dividing and moulding steps and thebaking step will be described below in more detail.

[0039] First, in the step of obtaining a madre, in a culture ground inwhich 40-42 parts by weight of water is added to 100 parts by weight offlour which contains 13.5 to 14.5 wt % of water, 0.4-0.45% of ashcontent and 11-11.5% of protein, about 10⁷/g of Saccharomyces exiguus,about 10⁸/g of Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and about 10⁶/g ofLactobacillus comoensis are inoculated and mixed, and then the mixtureis cultured for 20-24 hours while maintaining the temperature at 16-18°C . When the pH reaches to 3.9-4.0, culturing is stopped and 100 partsby weight of the cultured product obtained is mixed with 100-200 partsby weight of flour and 40-80 parts by weight of water, and the mixtureis kneaded for about 5-15 minutes while controlling the kneadingtemperature at 23-25° C. Thereafter, in a fermentation room, it isfermented for 20-24 hours at 16-18° C. so that the pH will reach 3.9 to4.0. These operations are repeated 5-10 times to obtain madre.

[0040] Next, in the step of obtaining a proliferated madre, 100 parts ofmadre obtained in the above step, 100-200 wt % of flour and 40-80 wt %water are kneaded for 5 to 15 minutes while controlling the kneadingtemperature at 24-25° C., and fermented for 3-4 hours in thefermentation room to adjust the pH of the dough to 4.1 to 4.2.Thereafter, 100-200 parts by weight of flour and 40-80 parts by weightof water are added and kneaded for 5-15 minutes while maintaining thekneading temperature at 24-25° C. The mixture is then fermented for 3-4hours to adjust the pH of the dough to 4.30 to 4.40 to obtain aproliferated madre by proliferation.

[0041] Next, in the step of obtaining sponge dough, 30-100 parts byweight of the proliferated madre, 100-200 parts by weight of flour,20-40 parts by weight of fat, 20-40 parts by weight of saccharides,20-40 parts by weight of eggs and 40-80 parts by weight of water aremixed, kneaded at a temperature of 20 to 25° C., and fermented for 3-6hours at room temperature to obtain a sponge dough.

[0042] And in the main mixing, division and moulding steps, for example,for 100-200 parts by weight of fat, 50-100 parts by weight ofsaccharides, 2-12 parts by weight of salt, 20-50 parts by weight ofwater, 50-100 parts by weight of flour and 40-80 parts by weight of egg,the entire amount of sponge dough obtained in the above step is mixed ina mixer while adjusting the temperature at 20-30° C. After let to standfor 10-60 minutes, the mixture is refrigerated for 5-45 hours at 0-10°C. and moulded into desired shapes.

[0043] In the baking step, for example, after the dough that has beenrefrigerated is fermented for 5-10 hours in the fermentation room at28-35° C., it is baked in an oven of 160-320° C. for 15-30 minutes.

EXAMPLES AND COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES Example 1: Manufacturing example ofpanettone

[0044] Sponge dough of the blend rate shown in Table 1 was made andfermented for 8 hours at room temperature. The blend rate shown in Table1 is in weight parts and the saccharide is fructo-oligosaccharide (madeby Ensuiko Sugar Refining Co., LTD.: LS-55 containingfructo-oligosaccharide by 55% or over in the solid portion).

[0045] To the sponge dough for which fermentation ended, materials weremixed at the blend rates shown in Table 2 and the final dough was madein an ordinary way.

[0046] The final dough thus obtained was divided, let to stand for 60minutes at 25° C., and moulded into desired shapes.

[0047] The moulded dough was fermented for 10 hours in a fermentationroom of 28° C. and then baked for 30 minutes in an oven of 200° C. toobtain panettone.

Comparative Example 1: Manufacturing example of croissant

[0048] Using the madre obtained in the “steps of obtaining madre”,according to a recipe used for commercial croissant, and using onlysucrose and oligosaccharide as sweeteners, croissant was made (36 g perpiece).

Example 2: Manufacturing example of croissant

[0049] Except that part of the sucrose as a sweetener was repleaced withfructo-oligosaccharide (made by Ensuiko Sugar Refining Co., LTD.: LS-55)so that 3 g of fructo-oligosaccharide would be contained per piece,croissant was manufactured in the same manner (36 g per piece) as inComparative Example 1.

[0050] The croissant obtained was, like ordinary croissant, baked brown.As for its flavor, as a result of functional test by three professionalpanellist, it was confirmed that it was substantially the same in color,smell, swelling, mouth-melting and taste as ordinary croissant. It wasconfirmed that there was no sense of incompatibility in flavor.

[0051] For croissant of Example 2 and Comparative Example 1, in thefollowing manner, a test or a questionnaire was conducted for a)measurement of content of the fructo-oligosaccharide, b) preservationstate of croissant, c) measurement of the number of Bacilli bifidus infecal matter after taking, and d) excretion-improving properties aftertaking. The test or questionnaire for items c) and d) was conducted atFujita Health University and Fujita Memorial Institute of Pharmacognosy,Fujita Health University.

[0052] a) Measurement of content of the fructo-oligosaccharide

[0053] Three weeks after manufacture, each of two pieces of thecroissant obtained in Example 2 was divided into two and one half wasused as a test piece. To the test piece (18 g), 90 ml of water wasadded, and 10 ml of Maltopentaose (G5) was added (concentration adjustedto 1420 mg/ml) as an internal standard substance. The mixture was thenhomogenized for five minutes at 50000 rpm, and subjected tocentrifugation for 20 minutes at 12000 rpm. A supernatant fluid wasobtained. To 20 ml of the supernatant fluid, an equal amount of n-hexanewas added for degreasing, a water layer was recovered by about 20 ml,and an equal amount of ethanol was added. After desalting, it wasfiltered and used as a specimen for high-pressure liquid chromatography(HPLC).

[0054] For this specimen, HPLC was carried out under the followingconditions. The chromatogram obtained is shown in FIG. 1 and thecomposition of nutritional component is shown in FIG. 2.

[0055] Column: TSK-GEL Amide-80 (4.6 mm×250 mm)

[0056] Moving phase: CH₃CN:H₂O=71:29

[0057] Flow rate: 1.0 ml/min.

[0058] Detector: RID-6 Δ (made by SHIMADZU SEISAKUSHO)

[0059] In Example 2 (LS-containing croissant), five minutes after thestart of the separation test by HPLC, glycerol originating from theferment bacilli was separated, and then fructose (Frc), glucose (Glc),sucrose (Suc) and lactose (Lac) appeared. 16 minutes later, separationof fructo-oligosaccharide was confirmed, and 42 minutes later,Maltopentaose (G5), which was added as an internal standard substance,was separated.

[0060] In Comparative Example 1 (LS-unadded croissant), as in Example 2,glycerol, fructose (Frc), glucose (Glc), sucrose (Suc), lactose (Lac)and Maltopentaose (G5) appeared. But about 16 minutes later, a peakcorresponding to fructo-oligosaccharide was not detected. In Table 3,the saccharide compositions for Example 2 and Comparative Example 1 areshown.

[0061] The content of fructo-oligosaccharide in one piece (36 g) ofExample 2 was examined based on the above measuring separation method.It was 1.76 g on the average and it was confirmed that 60% of theoriginally added amount (3 g) remained. Thus, it was confirmed that onlyabout 40% of the fructo-oligosaccharide originally added to croissantself-decomposed or was assimilated by microorganisms during themanufacturing process.

[0062] b) Preservation state of croissant

[0063] Croissant containing fructo-oligosaccharide obtained in Example 2was preserved at normal temperature. Immediately after manufacture, 3weeks later and 6 weeks later, HPLC was carried out under the sameconditions to examine the preservation rate of fructo-oligosaccharide.The results are shown in FIG. 2.

[0064] As will be apparent from the results of FIG. 2, for croissantcontaining fructo-oligosaccharide of Example 2, even 3 weeks aftermanufacture, it was contained by 1.68 g (n=2) and even 6 weeks aftermanufacture, it was contained by 1.60 g (n=2). In either case, theremaining rate was 50% or over of the originally added amount (3 g).

[0065] Thus, it was confirmed that fructo-oligosaccharide contained incroissant is preserved at room temperature without being decomposed.Even after a lapse of 30 days, which is the takable time limit forlong-life croissant, it was confirmed that it remained by a sufficientamount.

[0066] c) Croissant containing fructo-oligosaccharide obtained inExample 2 was given to ten female students suffering from constipationat the rate of two pieces a day, and the number of Bacilli bifidus inhuman wastes was measured and the occupancy rate of Bacilli bifidusrelative to the total number of germs was examined. The results areshown in FIG. 3.

[0067] As for the determination of significant differences of theexamination results, the number of bacilli was analyzed by Wilcoxonsigned-ranks test between the test periods, and the occupancy rate wasanalyzed by paired t-test between the test periods. Also, “Cont period”in FIG. 3 indicates the results of 8th day after start of taking, “Blankperiod” indicates 15th day after start of taking, “LS1w period”indicates 22th day after start of taking, and “LS2w period” indicates29th day after start of taking.

[0068] As will be apparent from the results of FIG. 3, it was confirmedthat by taking croissant of Example 2, the number of Bacilli bifidusincreased, and the occupancy rate of Bacilli bifidus increased fromabout 20% during the blank period to about 35%.

[0069] d) Excretion-improving properties after taking

[0070] For hospital personnel, participation to the questionnair wassolicited. For 4 males and 39 females who were aged from 20 to 66 yearsold, the croissant of Example 2 was given by 2 pieces a day for oneweek. From the day when they began taking the croissant, questions wereasked about the feeling of evacuation, the number of passages,refreshing feeling after evacuation. The results were as follows.

[0071] a) Feeling of evacuation

[0072] 17 persons (39.5%) answered good, 2 persons (4.7%) had slightlybowels, 15 persons (34.9%) were slightly constipated, and 9 persons(20.9%) were constipated.

[0073] b) Number of passages

[0074] Per one week, 7 times or over: 3 persons (7.0%), 6-7 times: 14persons (32.5%), 5-6 times: 6 persons (14.0%), 4-5 times: 0 person (0%),3-4 times: 11 persons (25.6%), 2 times or less: 9 persons (20.9%).

[0075] c) Refreshing feeling after evacuation

[0076] Felt substantially refreshed: 28 persons (65.1%), not refreshed:15 persons (34.9%)

[0077] According to the present invention, as described above, a mixtureof flour as the major ingredient and fructo-oligosaccharide is fermentedwith a madre comprising predetermined ferment bacilli and the doughobtained is baked. It is possible to make a sufficient amount offructo-oligosaccharide sufficiently remain in croissant, panettone,other bread.

[0078] Since the function of fructo-oligosaccharide is imparted to suchbakery products, by eating them, proliferation of Bacilli bifidus in theintestines is promoted, so that one can expect improvement in habitualconstipation by mildly promoting excretion.

[0079] Also, according to the method of manufacturing bakery products ofthe present invention, since flour, warter and a madre comprisingpredetermined ferment bacilli are mixed, and the mixture is fermented tomake a dough, and the dough is baked, it is possible to make a largepart of fructo-oligosaccharide added to the dough remain. Thus by bakingthis dough, it is possible to manufacture bakery products having thefunctions of fructo-oligosaccharide. Also, according to the presentinvention, a mixture of flour and fructo-oligosaccharide is fermentedwith a madre comprising predetermined ferment bacilli to make a dough.Thus, by baking the dough, it is possible to reliably provide bakeryproducts which can reveal the functions of fructo-oligosaccharide. TABLE1 Panettone sour dough  30 flour 100 oil and fat  25 sugar (LS55)  25egg  25 water  45

[0080] TABLE 2 sponge dough entire amount flour  60 oil and fat 100sugar (LS55)  60 egg  40 salt  2 water  20

[0081] TABLE 3 Sugar content (%) Example 2 Comp. Ex. 1 glycerol  2.7 2.8monosaccharide 19.5 42.3 cone sugar 12.0 35.1 lactose 27.6 10.7 flucto-31.2 0 oligosaccharide others  7.1 9.1

What is claimed is:
 1. A bakery product containing fructo-oligosaccharide, obtained by adding fructo-oligosaccharide to flour as a major ingredient, fermenting the mixture with a madre containing Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis to prepare a dough, and baking a dough thus obtained.
 2. A method of manufacturing bakery products containing fructo-oligosaccharide comprising the steps of mixing flour, water, fructo-oligosaccharide to prepare a mixture, and adding to the mixture a madre containing Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis to ferment the mixture to make a dough, and baking the dough.
 3. A dough for a bakery product containing fructo-oligosaccharide, said dough being obtained by mixing fructo-oligosaccharide to flour as a major ingredient, and fermenting the mixture with a madre containing Saccharomyces exiguus, Lactobacillus sanfrancisco and Lactobacillus comoensis. 